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BMC to soon appoint robots for cleaning nullahs unattended since independence

The robotic jetting machine is being bought from Italy and will cost around ₹6 crore. The major reason for bringing the robots is the danger of possibility of dangerous gases at the deep nullahs.

BMC to soon appoint robots for cleaning nullahs unattended since independence
SHARES

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning on cleaning a stretch of heritage nullahs that spread all across Elphinstone, Parel, Hindmata, Currey Road, P D Mello Road, Mumbai Central, and Byculla. The nullahs have been untouched and uninspected since 1947.

As per the officials, the southern part of Mumbai has 600 km of nullah network out of which, 90 km of the nullahs have never been cleaned in decades. No human being may be able to go inside since the BMC thinks that the nullahs could contain toxic gases and it could be risky for the workers.

And since they are unable to do it personally, the Storm Water and Drain (SWD) management department now insists to use robots for cleaning the nullahs. Many of these heritage sites are situated in the southern part of the city. The heritage sites add to the visual beauty of Mumbai, but their maintenance is a challenging job.

The robotic jetting machine that BMC plans to purchase will be bought from Italy and will cost the BMC approximately ₹6 crore. Right now, BMC would buy one machine for an experimental purpose. An official said that the machine can only clean 10 manholes daily which is almost 33 metres. He said that one machine won’t be able to clean the entire stretch quickly and if only the machine gave good results, then the work would be given to the companies or contractors that manufacture the machines.

Every year, BMC begins the preparations just before monsoon and starts cleaning the nullahs by April. An official told Free Press Journal,

Mumbai has 600 km network of nullahs out of which 26 km of nullahs are cleaned by Bobcat machines. Another 484 km drains are cleaned with available machines and appointed contractors, but remaining 90 km have never been attended to. These are deeper and wider and require advanced technology like robots, as human interference is risky over there.”

This year, for the first time, the BMC is also planning to purchase pneumatic plug rubber balloons which are useful for blocking the upstream manholes while cleaning the nullahs. The technology is used primarily in the US and it is being brought from there. The pneumatic plug rubber balloons would cost the BMC around ₹1.5 crore.

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